Amazon Launches Rufus AI Shopping Assistant For All U.S. Customers
A few months after the official launch of Rufus, today Amazon announced that Rufus is now available to all U.S. customers in the Amazon Shopping app. To use it, simply update to the latest version and tap the bubble icon in the bottom right corner. The Rufus AI shopping assistant can answer questions and offer advice before making a purchase. The technology company says that Rufus is like that salesman who helps you when you go to a store, with the difference that this version is powered by AI.
How does Amazon's Rufus chatbot work?
The chatbot is integrated into the Amazon app on mobile devices and can be invoked via a shortcut in the bottom menu. Doing so will open a window where you can ask a question about the product you are currently viewing. According to Amazon, Rufus can answer specific questions, such as the manufacturing material or whether it is easy to use, as well as follow-up questions.
Rufus' answers are based on helpful information found in product listing details, customer reviews, and community Q&A. Amazon's chatbot aims to streamline the purchasing process so that users don't have to navigate through various sections of each product. If you don't want to waste time looking through reviews, simply ask it, "What are customers saying?"
If you're looking for a product to meet a specific need, Rufus might be able to help. Simply type a question in natural language mentioning what you want to do and the AI will come up with a series of recommendations. You can opt for the phrase "What is the best cheap mobile phone?", or ask it to compare products, for example, OLED vs. QLED TVs.
With Rufus, Amazon wants to use AI to boost online shopping
Unlike Google or Microsoft, Amazon hasn’t launched a ChatGPT competitor to answer questions on any topic. The company has been experimenting for months with models focused on its services, such as generative AI to improve product images. While a new version of Alexa is about to be announced, the current focus remains on its products.
The case of Rufus is interesting, as it proposes a radical change to the way we shop on Amazon. The chatbot answers questions, offers recommendations or makes product comparisons. Users can be as detailed as they want in the prompt, for example, "Recommend a comfortable baseball glove for a 9-year-old beginner." It also allows users to be more ambiguous and ask for information about trends or the newest products.
While Rufus' AI is focused on the catalog, Amazon notes that the chatbot can answer questions that don't involve a purchase. Of course, the answers will always return related products, since the goal of artificial intelligence is to get you to spend money in the store. For everything else, there's ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot.
When Rufus will arrive in Europe
The arrival of Rufus in the United States marks the end of the closed beta for select customers that some users of the platform were able to enjoy at the beginning of the year. It was announced in February, and has been trained entirely with data and details from the platform itself; customer reviews, Amazon products, community responses, and much more. However, it is not known when it will arrive in Europe.
